Curious to get your thoughts on a play in the opener that got lost a little bit. In the first inning with a man on second, one run in and no outs, Hanley Ramirez laid down a sacrifice bunt, advancing the runner to third. Manager Fredi Gonzalez thought it was a great play.

It certainly was an unselfish play and it did lead to another run scoring. Jorge Cantu followed and got the RBI on a groundout. If any non-middle of the order hitter advances a guy with a bunt or grounder to the right side, it's considered winning baseball. Is it unfair to expect Ramirez now that he's a three-hole hitter to try and knock in the guy himself?

Not only that, but was it smart for Ramirez to bunt so early in the game? John Baker was on second, so there's no guarantee he would have scored on a single. Then again, the Marlins were facing John Lannan, not Johan Santana. Was it a better bet to go for the big inning instead of giving away an out and coming away with a 2-0 lead?

Of the 29 other three-hole hitters in Opening Day lineups this season, 24 of them did not have a sacrifice hit in 2008. Two others — David Ortiz and Chase Utley — had one each.

I wouldn't expect to see Ramirez sacrifice often, but he does deserve credit for if nothing else thinking team first.

Comments (11 Comments)

sacrifice bunts are only considered winning baseball by people who dont have a clue what their talking about.
sacrifice bunts are only good strategy in very limited circumstances. (i.e. a pitcher doing it, a 9th inning situation) but certainly not in the 1st inning with an MVP contender at the plate.
Hanley should only bunt if the infield is playing back and he is bunting for a hit.

Agreed.
Statistics have shown sacrifice bunts lead to fewer total runs scored than trying for a hit.
Maybe you get that one run. Maybe you don’t. But you definitely significantly ruin chances for a big inning by giving away a free out.
Even worse so when it is one of best hitters in baseball.
Most pitchers should bunt because they usually are such bad hitters that chances of getting hit are very low. Double-plays are very high.
In bottom of 9thof tie game or some very-late game situations 1-run might be just as valuable as multiple runs (game ends on 1-run in bottom of 9th). In those cases a bunt might be feasible and that is it.

This is arguably the worst blog post I’ve ever read by a professional baseball writer.
What’s “best for the team” is for Hanley Ramirez to swing away. Why doesn’t someone accuse him of being selfish for taking the easy way to advance the runner but costing his team an out, rather than using his incredible skills to try to advance the runner without costing an out?

Only time I will EVER want to see Hanley sac bunt is bottom of 9th (or extra inning) of tie game and a runner on 2nd with nobody out.
If he happens to see that 3B is playing really deep and wants to try to bunt for a hit, that is OK. But the intention there is for a hit, not sacrifice.

Drrka,
I was as shocked as anybody to see Ramirez bunting in the first inning, but there’s a reason why guys in the dugout line up to shake a hitter’s hand after he moves a guy over.
Here’s what manager Fredi Gonzalez had to say about it: “We left it up to him. In that situation we want guys to hit the ball to the right side hard. I thought it was a good approach for him, especially with a left-hander who’s not throwing very hard. … He felt he had a better way of getting him over on a bunt than he did swinging the bat. He got him over and [Cantu] got him in. That’s a good thing to see.
“[Ramirez] wants to win and that’s part of winning, moving runners. He felt like he needed to move a runner there and he got it done…That’s what we’re here for aren’t we? To win ballgames.”

If I might make a poker analogy…
There are very specific, very rare circumstances in which it makes sense to fold pocket aces preflop (on the bubble in a satellite, that kind of thing.) The vast majority of the time, though, it’s insane.
I think we can all agree that having Hanley Ramirez at the plate is the baseball equivalent of holding pocket aces. Except in those very specific, very rare circumstances, you don’t fold pocket aces.

I’m happy to report that with runners on first and second, and no outs in the seventh inning Wednesday, Hanley Ramirez did not bunt!
He singled to left, driving home Emilio Bonifacio.
Cameron Maybin followed and he did sacrifice the runners over. The Nationals intentionally walked Dan Uggla to load the bases for pinch-hitter Wes Helms, who grounded into a double play.

I think Hanley forgot he was in the three hole and was still in the mindset of a leadoff hitter. Once he gets established in this role a little longer he won’t be looking to bunt. Make no mistake that was Hanley’s doing not the Fredi’s.
Oh and nice job by Fredi backing up Hanley… Whether Fredi thought it was a good play or not.

Ramirez bunted on wednesday with Marlins winning 6-3 and runners on 1st and 2nd.
Would Pujols bunt? Chipper Jones? Manny Ramirez? Your number 3 hitter in the lineup does not bunt. Your cleanup hitter does not bunt. It appears that Ramirez has a very poor idea on how baseball is played and Gonzalez and the coaches should have a talk with him.

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About the author

JUAN C. RODRIGUEZ
My career covering the Marlins has been all about good timing. At Florida Today, I became the...